


Regarding Fusion

by Jingle



Category: Disney - All Media Types, Inside Out (2015)
Genre: (kind of sort of), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Community: disney_kink, Divorce, Gen, Homophobia, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-09-13 19:05:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9137383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jingle/pseuds/Jingle
Summary: Discontinued.For the prompt "Inside Out; Steven Universe-style emotion fusions", which itself was inspired bythis graphicandthis tumblr post.Sometimes, one emotion on its own doesn't cover how Riley feels. That's what fusion is for.It's always an interesting experience, and when Riley finds her life taking a new turn, there seems to be more need for fusion than ever. It all leads both Riley and her emotions to a few new realizations about themselves, and the way their worlds work.





	1. Hatred

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [chelonianmobile](http://chelonianmobile.livejournal.com/) for the prompt!
> 
> Thanks to [cassandraoftroy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/cassandraoftroy/profile) for the beta on Chapter 1!

When Riley was very young, Fear and Joy would fuse often. So much was new to their happy girl, so Surprise came naturally.

And it wasn’t like Fear disliked being Surprise. In some ways, every time he fused with Joy, he felt as if a weight had been lifted. Being Surprise was _easier_ than being himself. Being _near_ Joy was always a small comfort; being _one_ with her was pure relief.

But forming Hatred was so, so different. Forming Hatred involved going into this dark part of himself he hadn’t known _existed_ , and setting something wild and beastly free. The first time, he’d chalked it up to being one with Anger, but… No, that wasn’t it at all, because the feelings would linger. That didn’t happen when he fused with the others.

He loved being Hatred. It felt so good. Oh, he was still afraid, but he was _powerful_ , too. It felt as though the fear in Hatred just fed him; further enraged him.

It sickened Fear, how much pleasure he got out of that. It really did; he knew Riley didn’t enjoy the fusion and so he had no business wanting to form it. The other emotions felt uncomfortable, at best, around Hatred. Even Anger seemed weary after they would fuse. For Fear, though, it was an experience he relished.

Hatred made Fear _strong_.


	2. Prejudice

Disgust felt ill as she reached out for Fear’s hand. She knew this had to be done, and Fear must know it, too. That didn’t mean she _wanted_ it.

“We have to fuse,” she instructed Fear, all the same.

Joy and Anger exchanged confused looks.

“I thought we were gonna…” Anger began, to Joy, but Disgust shook her head.

“That will come later. What Riley’s dealing with right now…” She tugged on Fear’s hand a bit; he’d gone still when she’d spoke to him. “…Is about _us_.”

Joy sighed. “Are you sure? I mean, you two have never fused before; we don’t even know what emotion you’ll make.”

“Come on, Joy, you know how this works,” Disgust said impatiently. “I can _feel_ it.”

Joy looked at Fear. “And you?”

Fear whimpered, but nodded. Sadness, at the controls at that moment, sniffled and moaned. It _did_ seem like Sadness had done all she could; Joy had to admit that.

And it wasn’t like she took the position of leader anymore, anyway. Even if she did… Disgust clearly had no plans of waiting for her to ‘okay’ things. She’d already led Fear over to the controls. Fear gently nudged Sadness out of the way, and the two joined together.

 

* * *

 

 

Just as Riley managed to stop crying, she heard a knock on her bedroom door, and her father calling her name. Her stomach clenched. What could he want?

“ _What_?”

“Can I come in? I think we should talk about this, Riley.”

“I’m _not_ talking to you,” Riley huffed, rolling onto her stomach and burying her face in her pillow.

“I know this is hard for you. I don’t blame you for being mad at me.” Mr. Andersen spoke carefully as he went on. “I just want you to know that this is who I am. And it doesn’t mean I don’t love you, or that I don’t care about your mother. If I could decide to be different, I would, Riley.”

Riley groaned as she lifted her head. That wasn’t _good enough_. “Just go away. You- You’re _disgusting_!”

There was silence on the other side of the door, save for slow, retreating footsteps.

 

* * *

 

 

Fear clutched his sides, wincing, as he and Disgust separated. Disgust looked badly shaken. The others were quiet, for a moment, until Joy finally said, “So that was Prejudice.”

“I guess so,” Fear breathed. Sadness’ face screwed up; she was on the verge of tears.

“I didn’t like that,” Disgust muttered, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.

“What, like you two were going to turn into something pleasant?” Anger snorted. Disgust glared at him.

“Shut up.”

“The whole thing is _unpleasant_ ,” Joy intervened. “We just have to do what Riley needs. We’ll get through this.”

“I hope so,” Sadness cried.

Disgust stepped away from the controls. “I just hope we never have to do that again,” she said, looking over her shoulder at Fear.


	3. Righteousness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to keep this Gen, but my ships may or may not be starting to show... We'll see what happens.

It was wrong to want Hatred to handle this, Fear told himself as he watched Joy and Anger form Righteousness. Yes, he wanted to have the chance to fuse with Anger, but Riley hating her father? That would be a step too far, especially after all the damage he and Disgust had done as Prejudice. He shuddered at the memory, and glanced at Disgust. To Fear’s surprise, Disgust had been looking back at him until their eyes met, at which point she quickly looked away.

It made sense. Prejudice had been… _Unpleasant_ , to use Joy’s word. Disgust didn’t exactly play nice with Fear at the best of times, but since their first fusion, Disgust had started to flat-out ignore him… Or, at least, it seemed that way. Fear admittedly had been doing his best to avoid Disgust, himself.

He turned his attention to Righteousness at the controls, peering past the hulking orange fusion to see what was happening for Riley.

* * *

 

“Mom, I can’t believe you’re defending him!” Riley hissed. Her mother sighed; checked the clock. One hour until Riley’s father came home from work. One hour was _not_ enough time to help Riley understand.

“Riley, he didn’t do anything _wrong_. I know it’s hard to accept, and you’re allowed to be frustrated, but you called him disgusting. That crosses a line.”

“This is _just like_ when we moved here! You were all about _him_ – how I needed to put on a brave face for _him_! What about me? Why can’t _he_ just _pretend_ for _me_ – for _us_?”

“Riley, that’s unfair-”

“Unfair? You want to talk about unfair, Mom?! Because I’d say Dad deciding he wants to leave us and start dating _guys_ is unfair!” With that, Riley stomped off, up the stairs and into her room.

* * *

 

Righteousness wasn’t diffusing, but they weren’t at the controls anymore, either. Fear looked at Sadness. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t… I don’t know,” she whispered.

Disgust rolled her eyes and stepped forwards. “Alright, come on, you two. Break it up.” Righteousness glared at Disgust; snorted in her direction. Disgust’s posture stiffened. “ _Fine_. If you’re going to stay fused, you’d better get back to the controls.”

Righteousness didn’t move, and after a moment, Sadness made an alarmed sound and darted past them. She took over the controls, but kept looking over her shoulder at the stand-off between Righteousness and Disgust.

“You’re not going to say anything? Come on, you two never shut up on your own _or_ fused,” Disgust pointed out, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why are you being so weird?”

“Disgust, maybe you should just… Leave Righteousness alone,” Fear suggested.

“Um, no? This isn’t good for _Riley_.”

“Well, maybe it is! I mean, why else would they still be fused? Maybe Riley needs them on the bench.”

“Yeah, sure, right.”

Righteousness leaned down over Disgust, but the singular emotion didn’t so much as flinch. Fear, on the other hand, began to shiver. “Disgust, please just leave them alone!”

“No, I won’t! Don’t you get it, Fear? She’s scared!”

“She… What?”

“Joy! She’s scared, because she’s _useless_ right now,” Disgust asserted. Fear’s eyes widened. Righteousness leered at Disgust. Sadness hunched down over the controls. “She doesn’t want to diffuse because then she’ll have to sit in a corner and do _nothing_ , just like she used to make Sadness do.”

“Disgust, stop it!” Sadness pleaded. When she spoke, Righteousness recoiled, and just like that, Anger and Joy were separate again.

“She’s right. I didn’t want to…” Joy took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, guys. I’m sorry.” She ducked into the living space of Headquarters, and Sadness moved to follow her for a moment before apparently remembering her duty at the controls.

Anger shot Disgust a dirty look. “I’m sorry, were things not bad enough already?”

“I didn’t do anything but point out the truth,” Disgust huffed, but for once, she didn’t look pleased with herself.


End file.
